Riding The Wave News Summary #25
Interest rate hikes, Ukraine legalizing crypto, & South Korea on its way to do the same
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News
Table of Contents
Tweets
Ukraine's president signs law establishing regulatory framework for crypto
Bitcoin rallies as new South Korean president vows crypto push
Fed Raises Interest Rate by 25 Basis Points in First Rate Hike Since 2018
Edward Snowden Slams Central Bank Digital Currencies: ‘The Risk Is Very Easy to Illustrate’
‘Several Hundred Thousand’ Crypto Addresses Linked to Sanctioned Russian Actors: Elliptic
Tweets
Ukraine's president signs law establishing regulatory framework for crypto
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine currently based in Kyiv, has signed a law establishing a legal framework for the country to operate a regulated crypto market.
In a Wednesday announcement, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation said Zelenskyy signed a bill named “On Virtual Assets,” first adopted by the country’s legislature, the Verkhovna Rada, in February. Crypto exchanges and firms handling digital assets will be required to register with the government to operate legally in Ukraine, and banks will be allowed to open accounts for crypto firms.
The law endows Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission with the power to determine the country’s policies on digital assets, issue licenses to businesses dealing with crypto and act as a financial watchdog. The government agency added that Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance was also working towards amending the country’s tax and civil codes to accommodate the legal framework for digital assets.
This isn’t surprising considering how much support Ukraine has seen from the Crypto community in the form of donations. If they are able to get through this conflict without being absorbed by Russia I can see funds for rebuilding being donated via crypto as well. It’s also possible that when rebuilding Ukraine takes a more crypto-centered approach possibly setting up their energy infrastructure to be more crypto-friendly should funds allow it. War is horrible but after the war, rebuilding communities often have more room to experiment and go in directions you can only go when restarting from scratch.
Bitcoin rallies as new South Korean president vows crypto push
Bitcoin shot up above $40,000 today, rallying on the news that the incoming South Korean president is bullish on crypto.
The cryptocurrency market capitalisation shot up 2% today on the back of several positive factors, such as the EU abandoning critical legislation that would have led to an effective ban on bitcoin mining in the bloc.
Conservative South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is now set to move into the Blue House in Seoul in May.
The leader of the People Power Party has not been shy in issuing contentious views on feminism, North Korea, and also cryptocurrencies.
He plans to make a u-turn for crypto in South Korea, an industrial powerhouse that has for many years has been a hostile environment for the burgeoning industry.
Yoon has vowed to deregulate the cryptocurrency industry and introduce favourable tax laws for crypto investors.
His view is that cryptocurrencies should be allowed to operate within South Korea without regulations.
He added: “We must shift to a negative regulation system to ensure at least the virtual asset market has no worries."
The president, who is popular among male South Korean voters in their 20s and 30s, said he would "create an environment where virtual asset investors can invest with confidence".
This is exciting to see, hopefully, this optimism towards crypto is maintained after he takes office. This 180 in terms of the country’s approach to crypto might be driven in part by the tech giants that make up most of South Korea’s economy GDP (Ex: Samsung). The families that run them have a lot of influence over politics as well as public opinion.
With these companies starting projects related to crypto as well as enabling support in some of their products they may have put pressure via donations, media, & elsewhere to adjust the country’s views on crypto.
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